New life for my Pacific

[regulator]

Edit: This is in reference to the original Luxeon version of the HP Pacific - pretty old by today's standards.

I remember hearing that the Eiger and Pacific electronics are basically the same. That being said, I have been pleased with the increased output of my Pacific (HP power level) on a 14500 lithium ion cell.

The HP level was pretty low to begin with and using a 14500 lithium ion cell in it does not come close to overdriving it. It will draw about 200ma from the battery which is the same draw on a 1.5 volt cell. The brightness is a little more than doubled and takes the Pacific HP to a new level. The output is a great balance between runtime and output. You still get several hours of runtime at this modest drive level.

The Pacific Luxeon has a nice spot and wide spill. Mine had a nice white tint as well. It has gained a new life. It holds its own against a lot of newer lights.

 

[Gatsby]

I have a HP Pacific as well, and it is a fine light in most respects not the least of which was the flexible electronics that were also very efficient. IIRC the HP Pacific gets 12 hours of runtime on a lithium AA and 8 on a NiMH, still putting out a respectable and quite usable beam.

I'll have to try it with a 14500 however, sounds like an easy "upgrade" over the AA or CR2 cells I generally use.

 

[tnuckels]

Don't know if the Pacific is setup like the Caribbean I have, but replacing the LUX-III LED with an SSC P4 was not terribly difficult. It seems like you'd get a double upgrade, if combined with a 14500 battery. Mine involved:

• remove retaining ring, lens, gasket & reflector
• carefully scrape away (comes off easily) white, rubbery compound to expose LUX LED & circuit board
• de-solder LUX legs from circuit board
• remove LUX from heat-sink with pliers
• clean heat-sink (scrape away left over epoxy)
• thermal epoxy SSC in place with legs positioned over circuit board contacts (use reflector to center the LED on the heat-sink) making sure to use enough epoxy to electrically isolate the SSC slug from the heat-sink
• re-solder SSC legs to circuit board
• re-assemble head in reverse order of step one
• Voilà … much brighter! :thumbsup:

I haven't been as brave as MWClint, going at things from the tail end of the head, gutting out the battery contacts and circuit board and all. Just haven't had the need to … yet.

Good Luck!

 

[NutSAK]

Gatsby, I believe you're correct about those runtime numbers. That's how I remember them too, and that's what shows on the flashlightreviews website.

I've never tried 14500 in my Pacific HP SSC. Can anyone estimate what the runtime might be with this setup? The standard 1.5v output with SSC is impressive considering the runtime, but I wouldn't mind having a rocket in my pocket!

 

[Curt R]

To get the maximum candlepower output from the P4 LED over that of the Lux III, the reflector needs to have .030 of an inch removed from the back side of the reflector where the LED goes. That is to make up for the difference in the mechanical design of the two LEDs. The Lumen output will remain the same, however the beam pattern will tighten up and you will see about a 30% increase in candlepower which results in more throw. The window and window nut will sit lower in the head of a Caribbean and in the Pacific you may have to remove the O-Ring on the head to allow the reflector housing to screw on further. The procedure is the same with the Baltic and the one inch diameter heads that have the Lux III in them. With the K2 LED no modification of the reflector is required. We have some K2-0220 LEDs at $6.00 each or the Seoul P4-U2 at $5.00 each if you DIYers are interested. And no we do not do mods here. The discontinued K2 is the best LED for high power mods as it can withstand tremendous abuse.

Have fun:

Curt

 

[tnuckels]

Thanks for the tip Curt R.

I noticed this a lot more on my old LongBow when I did the P4 mod … the donut hole in the beam … so much so that I sprang for another $20 McGizmo reflector. I only see a hole at about 8" or less against a wall with the Caribbean, though I'm sure that translates to some lost light on down the beam line too. It also makes for a softer, wider hotspot.

I will try this, only if replacement reflectors (this looks sorta like an IMS?) are available from Peak, as I've wanted to put something more durable in place of the original plastic lens, that's now all scratched up from years of use. I can use the space freed up by whittling down the reflector to put in a thicker glass lens.

I'd thought the emission patterns were comparable from the K2 to the Lux-I/LUX-III. Strange then that the only K2 swap I've tried to date, which involved an optic in a TIkka XP, resulted in a beam was pure butt-ugly. Wonder why?

Glad you don't mind users tinkering as some builders, even those who started out as modders, seem adverse to their products becoming "modder fodder".

 

[regulator]

Thanks Curt for the info. The K2 swap sounds interesting and would be an upgrade to the LuxIII. I did open the head up once (and put a nick on it!!!). From memory, I decided it looked a bit difficult to get the LED out - I might have to look again. Or just wait for the Pacific with the XPG-R5! The El Capitan sounds very similar to a Pacific.

BTW - I consider the Pacific as an AA light and use the pocket body. I really like this setup.